News Sources: New Prime Minister in Pakistan

Yusuf Raza Gillani has been elected by a huge mandate by Pakistan's parliament to be the country's next prime minister. For President Pervez Musharraf, once the country's supreme executive authority, it has been another bad day. What looks like the beginning of the end of his powers began with the sweeping victory of political parties opposed to his rule last month. Reporters looking for experts to interview on this topic can find them online at the collegenews.org database of news sources and subject matter experts from America's leading liberal arts colleges and universities, including the following (click on names for contact information):

The Hon. Joseph Melrose - Professor of Politics and International Relations, Ursinus College - Ambassador Joseph H. Melrose Jr. retired from the U.S. Department of State in 2002, after three decades in the Foreign Service. During his diplomatic career, Ambassador Melrose held a variety of positions in Washington and abroad, including postings in Vietnam, Syria, Pakistan and Nigeria, in addition to Sierra Leone. He was Task Force Coordinator for the post-Sept. 11th task force with the Department of State, and later was a Senior Consultant on Counterterrorism for the Office of the Secretary of State’s Coordinator for Counterterrorism

Bob Snyder -Professor of Political Science, Southwestern University - Snyder can discuss Middle East politics, U.S. foreign policy and Islamist terrorism. He is the author of Hating America: Bin Laden as a Civilized Revolutionary.

Bradford Dillman - Assistant Professor of International Political Economy, University of Puget Sound - Dillman teaches courses in Middle East politics and illicit global economies. He spent a number of years teaching in Turkey and Egypt. In addition, his research has taken him to Algeria and Morocco. Current research includes Algerian politics, Middle East political economies and democratization. He's written and edited numerous publications.

Tony Blair Looks East

Every economy in the world is being fundamentally changed by globalization and technological advances, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair told an audience at DePauw University. As a result, he said, "The center of gravity is shifting eastward."

News Sources: U.S. Warns Iran

A confrontation between three U.S. Navy warships and five Iranian boats in the Strait of Hormuz almost triggered an exchange of gunfire, and if it happens again there may be a battle, the president's top security aide says. Reporters looking for experts to interview on this topic can find them online a the collegenews.org database of news sources and subject matter experts from America's leading liberal arts colleges, including the following (click on the names for contact information):

Shelley Deane - Assistant Professor Government/Legal Studies - Deane is an expert on the Middle East, security and has negotiated peace agreements involving Israel Palestine, Northern Ireland, the PLO and associated groups. She received has been interviewed by NPR, the AP, the Los Angeles Times and others.

Fawaz Gerges - Professor of Middle East Studies, Sarah Lawrence College - A MacArthur Fellow, Gerges studies Arab politics, militant Islamic movements, the Arab-Israeli peace process and America's relations with the Arab world. He is the author of America and Political Islam: Clash of Cultures or Clash of Interests? and The Far Enemy: Why Jihad Went Global. He has contributed to major foreign affairs publications and newspapers.

Douglas Stuart - Professor of Political Science/Director of Clarke Center, Dickinson College - Stuart can address American foreign policy, international relations theory, U.S. national security, NATO, U.S. foreign policy decision making, and U.S. defense policies.

News Sources: Intelligence Finding on Iran

President Bush said today that a new intelligence finding that Iran halted its nuclear weapons work in 2003 had not altered his sense that Iran remained a danger. At a White House press conference, Bush called the report “a warning signal,” not grounds for reassurance, and said the United States would not renounce the option of a military response. Reporters looking for experts to interview on this topic can find them on the collegenews.org database of news sources and subject matter experts from America's leading liberal arts colleges, including the following (click on names for contact information):

Samuel V. Wilson - Wheat Visiting Professor in Leadership, Hampden-Sydney College - Wilson is former deputy to the director of central intelligence for the intelligence community and retired director of the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency. He is president emeritus of Hampden-Sydney College.

Martha Crenshaw - John E. Andrus Professor of Government, Wesleyan University - Crenshaw has gained an international reputation for studies of political terrorism. She has testified before Congress and has served as a consultant to the Department of State, the U.S. Naval and Army War Colleges, the Defense Intelligence Agency and the Defense Nuclear Agency. Crenshaw has authored three books, including Terrorism, Legitimacy, and Power: The Consequences of Political Violence.

Darius Rejali - Professor of Political Science, Reed College - An expert on human rights, Rejali is the author of Torture and Modernity: Self, State, and Society in Modern Iran.

News Sources: Turkey and the Armenian Genocide Debate

A debate over killings that took place in the World War I era threatens to damage current relations between the U.S. and Turkey. Turkey's top general has warned that ties with the U.S. would be irreversibly damaged if Congress passes a resolution declaring the killing of Armenians to have been genocide. After a House committee approved such a resolution, Turkey - a major cargo hub for U.S. and coalition military forces in Iraq and Afghanistan - recalled its ambassador to Washington for consultations last week and said it might curtail its logistical support of the U.S. military. Twenty-three other countries have already acknowledged the genocide. Reporters looking for experts to interview on this topic can find them online at the collegenews.org database of news sources and subject matter experts from America's leading liberal arts colleges, including the following (click on names for contact information):

Jennifer Abbassi - Associate Professor of Political Science, Randolph College - Abbassi is an expert on international law and human rights, and is co-editor of an upcoming international law anthology and has done work on the Milosevic trial.

William Felice - Professor of Political Science, Eckerd College - Human rights activist Felice was the representative to the U.N. for the International League for the Rights of Peoples 1986-1992. His research and scholarship focuses on normative issues of rights and justice within our global society. He is the author of Taking Suffering Seriously and The Global New Deal: Economic and Social Human Rights in World Politics.

David Lesch - Professor of History, Trinity University - Lesch is an expert on Middle East and American foreign policy and the author of 1979: The Year that Shaped the Modern Middle East. He is a consultant to the U.S. State Department, has traveled across the Middle East to Syria, Jordan and Turkey, and visits the region four or five times a year.